Exhaling smoke, Carla watched it drift aimlessly upwards. The side road was quiet, save for the chatter of birds congregating on the short stubby trees lining the middle, until DCI Max Bremer’s black Merc pulled off the roundabout and headed towards the back gates. Carla stubbed her roll-up into a potted plant. Bremer was new enough to the team for her still to want to make a good impression, but she also hoped he’d be able to give her the heads-up on the previous night’s job, let her get a start on it before Nell and Paul got in.

Getting out of the car, Bremer slammed the door and hung his jacket over his arm before retrieving his briefcase from the back seat.

‘Anything from Nell?’ he asked, looking back at her.

‘No, I was hoping you’d have something.’

‘Nothing as yet.’ They walked towards the entrance, Bremer pushing open the tall glass doors for Carla to step through. Grey sofa to their right, reception desk to their left.

A woman stood with her back to them, thrusting a brown envelope at an uncertain-looking receptionist, who didn’t take it. It took Carla a second to recognise her, although how she could mistake that cropped white hair and rigid posture for anyone other than Eve Graham was beyond her.

‘Eve?’

The pathologist turned to face her. ‘Carla.’ Her gravelly voice echoed through the reception area. ‘Long time no see. I hear from Gerry you’re working with DS Jackson?’

Eve’s husband, Gerry, had been Carla’s first sergeant and for the subsequent eight years had been a constant source of support and advice. Carla and her fiancé, Baz, had often found themselves at the Grahams’ dinner table, where Eve’s insistence on Scotch for dessert always necessitated swapping their car for a taxi ride home. Carla had always found Eve distant, her hosting forced, laughter fake, and the intimidation she’d felt during those evenings was no less now they were meeting on Carla’s home turf.

She nodded to the brown envelope Eve held. ‘Can I help?’

‘Oh. Yes, I suppose you can.’ She handed it to Carla. ‘It’s a letter. I get them from time to time, but I discussed it with Gerry and he persuaded me to give it to you.’ She gave a smile. ‘Ever the overprotector is our Gerry.’

Carla looked at the blank envelope, its edge neatly opened. Why would Gerry bother about a letter if Eve didn’t seem worried?

‘I said it wasn’t anything to concern ourselves with,’ Eve went on, ‘but it makes a reference to a case I’m working on, one with your DS Jackson, as it happens.’

Carla looked up, surprised. ‘Last night’s job?’

Eve nodded. ‘Hand-delivered. No fingerprints. Typed.’

‘What reference?’

Eve turned to Bremer, equal in height, she looked him in the eye. ‘And you are?’